Taken
by Cassy27
Summary: Sequel to The Uninvited Visitor - Just now that everything was going okay again between Charlie and Colby, something horrible happens and nobody knows what is going on. Will Charlie be safe again? SLASH-STORY
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Taken**

Authors: Cassy27 / Chymom  
Words: 1898  
Characters/parings: Colby/Charlie, Don, Megan, Liz, David  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!  
Warnings: None in this post  
Spoilers: Not any in this post

**Summary: Just now that everything was going okay again between Charlie and Colby, something horrible happens and nobody knows what is going on. Will Charlie be safe again?**

**Chapter 1**

Colby kept his eyes open for all movement on the parking lot. Only when he recognized Don's car pulling in, he moved away from his own car, impatiently waiting for Don to park besides him and step out.

"Colby, what is it?" Don asked as soon as he walked up to the younger agent. He had heard the distress in his voice when he had called him before, but he hadn't gotten the chance to ask him what was going.

"You should follow me." Colby simply said. Not that he wanted Don to become more anxious as he didn't want to tell him what was going on, he just knew that words weren't enough to describe what he had seen.

They walked through the halls and Colby cautiously followed Don's every movement as they closed in on Charlie's office. Seeing his face fill with shock as they entered made Colby wonder if that had been the way he had looked like when first seeing this.

"Oh, Colby." Don sighed, not finding the right words to express anything more than shock. He slowly turned around to face him when his eyes caught Colby's name written on the wall. His eyes widened, his mouth popped open a little as he needed to inhale deeply in order to stay at least a little bit calm.

"That's blood," Don said in a disgusted tone as he neared the writing, "Charlie's blood?"

"I don't know," Colby answered, closing in on that wall as well, "let's hope it's not."

Having alarmed a csi team, they came after what seemed to have taken them longer than half an hour. Once the team had started digging through possible evidence, David Megan and Liz arrived.

"What's going on?" David asked, approaching his partner who looked anything but happy. When he gotten that phone call from Don not too long ago, he had sensed something was wrong, he had heard in his voice. But as far as ha knew, Charlie and Colby had a date tonight, a date that Colby was past ready for, so he thought that was why he was mad. It didn't cross his mind that something might have happened to Charlie.

"Charlie's keys are in his car, his office is a mess more so then usual and his cell phone is somewhere in the office floor."Colby told them.

Liz and Megan didn't know what to say and David was at a lose as well. When they watched Don approach them, they noticed the look of dread on his face. Don was still a few feet away when his cell rang.

Everybody watched how Don was talking, his face appearing more and more stressed. After what appeared to have taken so long, Don slammed his phone shut and continued walking over to them.

"The director wants to talk to me," Don nearly hissed through his teeth, obviously not wanting to leave this place right now, needing to know what progress was being made, "he wants you guys to be there too."

"What about this place?" Colby asked, his voice high as he was feeling the exact same way as Don was feeling right now, "Charlie is gone and we have to go to a meeting?"

"I assure you, Colby, that it has to do with Charlie."

Everybody looked at Don with a questioning look. How did the Director already know about this situation or what did this mean exactly? More questions kept filling their minds, but they all know they would have to wait to get answers to them.

"Let's just hurry over there so we can start looking for my brother." Don said, his face serious as he demanded everyone's attention.

The team quickly set out to see the Director of the FBI. Don had met him only once when he had been out with Charlie one time, but the rest of the team had no idea what to expect with this man they were all going to see other than he was very to the point and getting the job done.

"Don, we will find him." Liz told him, trying to comfort him the best she could. David was doing the same for Colby in the other car. They arrived at the FBI office a short time later and quickly made their way into his office.

"I first want to speak to Special Agent Eppes alone," the Director said as he exited his office, showing Don the way. As Don entered the office, all the rest remained silent. More and more questions started to erupt in Colby's mind. He felt like he shouldn't even be here, he should be out there and try find Charlie, he should be at his office and find some clues or useful information. But in stead, he had to wait here and feel useless.

It seemed like Don was in there forever, but eventually, he and the director came out, both looking distressed but somehow pleased as well. Everybody now wanted to know what was going on.

"Don?" Colby was the first to ask, "what's happening?"

Before Don could say anything, they were all asked to come in and close the door behind them.

Once they were all in the room the director began to speak

"I know you are all close to Charlie Eppes. Some of you more than others." He said the last part looking directly at Colby. Although it wasn't going to get him fired for being with Charlie, it wasn't well liked at the higher levels yet, but that was not the concern at the moment.

"I have talked with NSA, CIA and a handful of others that Charlie has worked with in the past. I will tell you this. Charlie will be found. This team, minus Don and Colby, will be working on the case. We have one week until some of the other agents come in and take over. One week is the best I could do." He told them as Don and Colby turned to leave, followed by the others. The director then said something that made them all stop in there tracks.

"Agent Sinclair," the director called his attention, "you're in charge of this case from now on."

"I'm going to lead the search for Charlie?" David had no doubt in his qualities as a leader, but this was different, the case was different. If Charlie wasn't found, that responsibility rested on his shoulders. Gazing at Colby and Don, David couldn't help but swallow. If he failed somehow, not only would one friend lose his lover, another one would lose his friend.

And then he took in a deep breath, preparing himself to take this case upon him as he was sure everybody in this room had confidence in his ability to find Charlie and so would trust in himself.

"Thank you, Sir."

And then they all exited the office, prepared to start this search.

As soon as the door closed, David went into action. The director had told Don to go home and that he would be notified by phone when any new leads were found. But of course Don had protested and the director had said that if he and Colby could stay out of the way and not contaminate anything because they were influenced by their personal feelings, they could both stay, but the fist sign that either one was in the way, they were both gone.

Don had agreed and once David set into work, Don pulled Colby in the war room.

"Colby," Don said, carefully closing the door behind him and ignoring the questioning looks of the rest who now stood outside, "I know this is going to be hard, for both of us, but we can only watch from the sideline, do you understand?"

"Charlie is gone and we're supposed to keep a low profile?" Colby already knew that was an impossible job to do.

"Look, in the end, when we have whoever that did this in custody, and they find out we screwed up because we're too involved, that person is going to walk free and Charlie might again be in danger." Don paused for a moment, giving Colby some time to let it all sink in. "Look at the bigger picture, Colby, you understand now that we need to keep a clear mind? David is well capable of handling this, he will do anything within his power to get Charlie home."

"I know, Don,"Colby said, accepting his words and comprehending now that he should listen to them, "but he's gone. Charlie could be anywhere by now. What if he's hurt?"

"Relax," Don warned him, seeing how the younger agent started breathing uncontrolled, "breathe because remember, if the Director sees you hyperventilating, he'll take you off the case before you can even blink."

Colby watched how Don smiled at him, trying to stay positive or strong, it didn't make any difference right now.

"Okay," Colby said after taking in a deep slow breathe, "let's get Charlie home."

When Colby and Don exited the room, nobody asked them what they had talked about as it had been obvious when they had seen Colby nearly hyperventilate.

"Don?" this time, it was Liz who wanted to speak to him in a private room.

"How is he?" Liz was looking at it from a co-worker and a friends view.

"His boyfriend is missing and he is feeling helpless in the search for him." Don told her. The thought that ran through his mind was that he would be doing the same if it were him in this place but he hoped he would never have to find out.

"Things will get better when Charlie is back with him and when he knows where he is." Don pulled her into his arms. It was mostly to comfort, but Liz didn't know whether it was to comfort her or himself more. It shocked her mostly because Don didn't show much emotion at work. The most she got even after the team knew about them was a quick hug and or a touch to her hand when the others were already gone.

Yet here she was in his arms at work. It was then she felt the quick almost kiss to her neck. Liz was frozen in place as Don let go and walked out the door to his desk. It hit her then that Colby nor Don were going to help in officially on this case. She didn't know why it was surprising her. True, Colby's lover was possibly hurt out there some were, but so was Don's brother and for Don to willing take the back seat meant that something was going on. She just didn't know what yet. Right now, she didn't have time to think about it. She had to find Charlie and fast or not only would the team lose one's lover and the other his brother, they would all lose a dear and trusted friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Taken**

Authors: Cassy27 / Chymom  
Words: 1461  
Characters/parings: Colby/Charlie, Don, Megan, Liz, David  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!  
Warnings: None in this post  
Spoilers: Not any in this post

**Chapter 2**

As Don walked out of the room, Liz following close behind, he suddenly thought about his dad. He had left him at home, only telling him that Colby needed him to come to Charlie's office. Him knowing his dad, Alan would probably be worried sick at home and the news that he would get wasn't going to help.

Don took out his phone and dialed the right number. As he heard how it was connecting, Don thought about all the possible ways for breaking this news.

"Don?"

Don was surprised that his dad had anticipated him calling.

"Yeah, it's me," Don paused for a moment, still thinking about the best way to tell him this, "there is something going on with Charlie." He silently cursed himself for telling Alan this so badly. He should better how to handle these kind of situations.

"What do you mean? Where is he? Is he okay?" Alan sounded panicked.

"I don't know, dad, someone took him from his office."

For a few minutes, Don wasn't sure his dad was still breathing. It wasn't bad enough that his brother was gone and he didn't stop it from happening, now his dad wasn't responding to his voice. Fearing the worst for his dad, he was just turning to head towards him when he heard his father say his name.

"Donnie," Alan's soft, raspy voice was hard to hear, but Don still let out his own breath which he had been holding.

"Yes, dad?" He wasn't sure what his dad was going to say, but hearing him say anything was better than the image he had in his mind, the image of finding his father laying dead on the floor in Charlie's living room.

"You're going to find him, right, son?" Alan knew that this wasn't like himself. Normally, he would be upset and let Don know that he wasn't happy that Don had once again had Charlie go into his world even though Charlie wasn't an agent. But right now, Alan was just plain scared. Scared that the last time he saw his son would have been this morning. Scared that he wouldn't come home to find the house full of different things that Charlie was doing to help Don or another agency.

"Dad, right now we're not sure who or why, but when we know more, I will let you know immediately." Don was happy that for the moment his father wasn't blaming him for letting something happen to Charlie.

Alan was about to disconnect, leaving his oldest son alone so that he could find his youngest son when suddenly flashes of Colby came to his mind.

"Donnie, how is Colby?"

Don knew that his dad was worried in more ways than one for the younger agent.

"He's doing as good as he can right now. We'll call you when we find out anything about Charlie." Don said before hanging up the phone and land starting to work on the files on his desk, hoping to keep his mind on things other than how much he wished he could have kept his brother safe.

He scanned every file quickly, knowing there was no time to thoroughly read them. He trusted in himself to see anything interesting. But then again, could he really trust in himself? He had always told himself to look after Charlie, to keep him safe even when he was so closely involved with the FBI and he had failed doing that.

Charlie was missing and Don had done nothing to stop it. He had always thought that when danger would surround his brother, he would know it, but why hadn't he seen it coming then?

Letting his eyes drop on the last case he and Charlie had worked on together, Don suddenly remembered what had been said the day Rodney Fiennes had been put behind bars for more than 20 years. Fiennes had sworn to get revenge and Don silently hoped he would be responsible for this because that at least meant they had a place to look for Charlie.

David, Megan and Liz were now in the war room looking over some files. With the amount of help that Charlie had given the FBI over the years, they knew this was going to be like a needle in a haystack, but they all loved a good haystack.

"David, what is it we're looking for exactly?" Liz knew that if it were Don missing that she would be looking for any threats to him or his family, but this wasn't Don.

"Any threats towards Charlie or towards Don's family. We might get lucky and it might be someone who was just let out." David said as Megan answered the war room phone. The call was finished quickly and the others could see in the way Megan's eyes were dropping to the floor and how her breath had quickly rushed out of her, that the news on the other end wasn't good.

"That was the lab, they ran some tests on the blood that was on the wall in Charlie's office," Megan said, "they confirmed it is Charlie's."

"What does this mean?" Liz asked, beating everybody to the question.

"They said to be able to write that name on the wall, even when it isn't written that big, you need to have a serious wound." Megan explained.

Don sighed heavily while watching Colby's face grow more white by the second.

"So did Charlie write it or was it his attacker?" David asked.

"It was Charlie," Colby answered with a surprisingly even voice.

"How can you know?" Megan was the one to ask.

"I could recognize his handwriting everywhere, it was Charlie who wrote my name on that wall."

"But why?" David simply couldn't get his head around it.

"A cry for help?" Liz suggested.

"I don't know," Don sighed, "but at least that tells us he is the one hurt and we don't know how bad it is."

With this new information the group doubled their efforts to get Charlie back. With him being hurt and not knowing how bad, they were now all wondering if he would still even be alive when they would eventually find him, but that was a thought nobody dared to verbalize.

"It's ironic, the most important case that we could use Charlie's help on and we can't use it because it's him were looking for," David laughed to himself as he thought it out loud.

The team got back to work and an hour passed with not much more the stack of possible suspects which kept growing by leaps and bounds. The silence in the room was shattered by Don's ringing phone.

"Don?"

Alan sounded panicked by something and Don couldn't help but clutch his phone in between his fingers.

"What's wrong?" Don asked, knowing it had to be bad to make Alan sound this upset.

"The garage," Alan said, his voice high and uncontrolled.

"What's with it?" Don asked, noticing how everybody around him was listening intently to him. Colby walked up closer to him and sat down besides him, not wanting to miss any details from this conversation.

"The blackboards, they are..." Alan didn't seem to manage to end his sentence, but Don needed to know.

"Dad, please, just tell me what's wrong."

"Someone was in here. Everything is destroyed, everything that belongs to Charlie, even his chalk is shattered all over the floor."

"Don't touch anything, dad, we're on our way."

The team was already in heading out the door before Don had ended the call.

"Don, maybe you and Colby should sit this one out." David was in charge and he didn't want to have to stand besides his boss and friend to make sure that they wouldn't touch anything for the whole time. While David was talking, he realized that Don nor Colby were going to stay here, but he had to say it even so.

"David, we won't get in the way, but this is my family's home and I will not be left out of something going on in there. Besides, if it's half as bad as my dad sounded on the phone, I need to be there anyway. Colby was the last one in there with Charlie and his work so he could tell you were things used to be so that might help as well."

David couldn't disagree with Don's reasons as they were solid and truthful.

When the team got into their cars to get to Charlie's home, only one thought repeated itself in their minds. How bad it would be?


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Taken**

Authors: Cassy27 / Chymom  
Words: 1980  
Characters/parings: Colby/Charlie, Don, Liz, David, Alan  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!  
Warnings: None in this post  
Spoilers: Not any in this post

**AN: All mistakes, grammar or spelling, are completely my own. I apologize for them already.**

**I know it has been weeks, even months since there has been an update on this story, but finally, here it is; the new chapter! Life has just gotten so busy for Chymom and myself and finding the time to write this has been difficult. I hope we will be able to post the next chapter soon. **

**Chapter 3**

The team carefully entered the garage, needing to make sure everything was safe. They didn't want to rush anything so they took their time to examine every single detail. They knew that perhaps Charlie didn't have that much time, but they were also certain of it that every bit of information could help them.

David noticed first how everything that belonged to Charlie was broken or torn apart. Alan's gardening equipment was left unharmed while Charlie's books were ripped into pieces and left all over the room.

Don was still inside the house with Alan, trying to calm him down, while Colby stood awkwardly at the doorway of the garage. He let his gaze slide over every single object and needed to swallow heavily when he got to the blackboards. They were covered with scratches and thus made unusable. Colby knew you needed to possess strength to do such a thing so it had to be a man, but wasn't really helpful information. There were hundreds of men who could have harmed Charlie.

"David, do you think there are any useful fingerprints here to run?" Liz asked as she took in all the mess in the room. She simply couldn't believe the attacker would leave anything behind that could lead them to his identity.

"I'm not sure, but we are going to run any fingerprint we find. I don't think the attacker left any clues with how this look." David seemed to have read Liz's thoughts. They only sighed when glancing each other in the eyes.

David went over to what used to be one of the many chalk boards where he bent down to see a small note on the floor. He had worked long enough with Colby to know it was his handwriting. It was a short note and after reading only the first sentence, he stopped himself from gazing at it any further. It was a very personal note and David didn't want to intrude their privacy. He walked over to Colby who was still standing in the doorway simply looking at what the rest of the team was doing.

"Here," David said, handing over the note to his friend, "I thought you might want it back so you could maybe give it back to Charlie when he's home again."

Colby seemed to be brought out of his thoughts when David spoke to him as his distant gaze suddenly turned sharp. He gladly accepted the note and read it, not knowing yet what it was. He soon realized that he had written this to Charlie only a few days ago. He had not had time to stay until Charlie would wake up that morning so he had simply left this note on his nightstand.

"Thank you." Colby didn't seem to be able to say anything more. A smiling David was his response. Liz's voice brought them back to reality however.

"Colby, what does Charlie normally use to clean his boards?" she asked, walking over to him and David.

"Euhm," he needed to think about that question, "I'm not sure, alcohol I think. Why?" Colby was leaning on the frame of the door.

"So he wouldn't have any need for this to be here then?" Liz asked, holding up an item in a plastic see-through bag for Colby to see.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, starting to walk inside the room now. David's hand suddenly pulled him to a stop. Colby turned to look at his partner.

"Sorry, Colby, I can't let you in."

Colby simply glared at him before speaking again. "David, it's not like my prints aren't out here all over the place anyway. What harm could letting me in do?" Colby wanted to be in there, helping find out more of what was going on and he was angry he couldn't do it. He was mad at David for doing his job. He was mad at Charlie for being kidnapped. He was mad at himself for letting him be taken. To top it all, he was going to hurt the person or people who had taken his lover, the man that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Now he just had to wait long enough to find out who the attacker is before he could go find his lover.

Hesitantly, David let Colby in, promising himself that he would keep an eye out for his partner, making sure he wouldn't ruin any evidence.

"Acid?" Colby asked, needing Liz to confirm his thought.

"Yeah, it seems like it," she sighed, taking another glance at the small bottle in the plastic bag she held in her hand.

Colby couldn't help but let his imagination run free. What if someone used this on Charlie? What if his body was now covered with burn marks? Was he in any pain? Was the acid used for something entirely different? The only thing Colby was sure of was that he needed to know the truth.

"It seems like is was used on his blackboards and on some of his documents," David said, carefully walking around in the room, letting his gaze slide over each and every object, not wanting to miss a thing.

"What's going on?"

Everybody turned towards the door, seeing how Don stood there with shock filling his face while seeing this mess for the first time. Nobody truly knew how to respond to him. It was Liz who stepped forward and took the word.

"Don, we found this on the floor and from what we can tel,l it was only used on some of Charlie's papers and his boards," Liz said to him, knowing that Don would want to know the truth, but she didn't want him to jump to any conclusion without all the facts either.

Don wasn't sure what to make of it. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to take Charlie at his office and leave no clues there and hen they had come here and did this to all his work. Judging by the mess, Charlie had something he didn't know he had or someone didn't want him to find out something.

A few years back, he would have thought it was just someone trying to get ride of his work, but since Amita left and Charlie was now dating Colby, Don didn't know what to think anymore. Was it someone who was trying to get to Colby through Charlie? Even though Charlie was no longer dating Amita, she still looked out for him in her own way and Don thought that perhaps she could help them with this.

Alan was standing in the doorway with a blank look on his face. Colby was the first to notice that something wasn't right with him. He walked over to him as he watched the man he considered to be like a father to him, starting to sway. As soon as Colby started to move quickly, so did Don. They both arrived just in time to catch him. Alan had just seen his youngest son's dreams shattered and tossed to the side like garbage. Once Don and Colby got him sitting down on the bench, he started to say something.

"Maybe we should get a doctor," Liz said, looking worried towards Alan, not wanting to see him get harmed as well. With Charlie missing and Alan who might end up in the hospital, Don would have an even harder time, but at least it would mean that Alan was looked after.

"No," Alan protested, "I'm good, I just need to stay calm."

"Dad," Don said, kneeling down besides him to get a good look at him, "maybe you should..."

"Please, Donnie," Alan said, "don't worry about, just get your brother home."

Don didn't answer to him immediately. He saw how his father smiled at him, insecure, but still, it was filled with love and Don knew there would be no negotiating with his dad on this subject.

"You know I'll do anything I can to get him home safely," Don reassured his dad, placing his hand on his shoulder and gently squeezing it.

"I do know," Alan sighed, thinking how bad this situation truly was, "so what happened here?"

"Right now, we're not sure of what happened, Mr. Eppes," David said.

"All we know for sure right now, dad, is that someone has Charlie and they wanted to destroy his work." Don knew that he should tell his father that Charlie was truly hurt, but he wasn't going to take any chances as he didn't want to see his father in the hospital. Was hiding a part of the truth really lying?

"Don, can I talk to you for a minute?" Liz asked, walking a few feet away. With Colby sitting with Alan, Don felt that he could leave his father's side for a moment.

"Sure," Don said as he joined her.

"Should we have someone stay here with your dad? I mean, they took Charlie and right now, we don't know if it is case related or not. Do you think they will come after your dad next?" Liz needed to ask this, but she knew that Don would have already considered this fact.

"I think you are right." Don turned and walked two steppes towards his father.

"Dad," Don said, knowing that Alan wouldn't be liking his next few words, "I'm going to get a car stationed outside the house."

"What? Why?"

Don had predicted this exact behavior.

"Because I don't want you in any danger. It could be that Charlie has been taken because of a case he has worked on or it could as well be personal. If it is the first case, you could be a target as well."

"Who would want to take me?" Alan hadn't yet given up on changing Don's mind.

"If you are taken as well, I have to worry about two members of my family, how do you expect me to be able to work at all? Knowing that you are safe helps me, dad, trust me. Can't you just accept it?" Don know he had played it dirty. He had talked his own father in feeling guilty, but right now, Don simply had the time to argue properly with his father as he needed that time to find Charlie.

Alan knew that his son was right. The more time Don spent worrying if he was alright, the less he would be looking for Charlie. Seeing the reasoning behind what he was being told, but not liking it, Alan agreed to having someone watch over him.

"Alright, I agree as long as you agree to be safe when you are looking for Charlie." If Don could play dirty then so could he. He didn't wont to lose one son trying to find the other.

"I promise," Don said, dialing his phone to get a car to be at the house.

"I won't let him get hurt, neither of your sons." Colby told Alan as he moved to sit beside him instead of kneeling at his feet.

"I know you won't, but don't get hurt yourself, son." Alan told him as he stood and walked back towards the house.

Once inside, Alan went to Charlie's room and sat down on his bed. He hadn't done this since Charlie was five and they had just found out something new he could do like a difficult math formula. Off course at that time he had been running his fingers through Charlie's mop hair. This time, there was no difficult math formula solved or a mop of Charlie's hair to run his hands through.

This time, Alan sat all alone.

**AN: thanks to those who stuck with this story and who still want to read this to find out what happens next. We promise to make it as exciting as possible and of course, as good as possible. See you soon... **


	4. Chapter 4

**Title****: Taken**

**Authors:** Cassy27 / Chymom**  
Words: **1868**  
Characters/parings: **Colby/Charlie**  
Rating: **T**  
Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!

**AN: **First of all, my apologies for the very very long wait for this chapter. Personal reasons however prevented me from working on this story and I'm sorry for the readers that had to wait months for a new update. I can only hope this chapter will bring new joy :)

Any mistakes are completely my own. I tried to filter them all out, but English isn't my motherlanguage and of course not all mistakes have been corrected. Sorry for them.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

Not really knowing where to look was the hardest part for Colby. If only he could run a background on some guy or find an address where Charlie might be. But in stead, Colby could only read through some more files that could possibly lead them to him. He felt helpless as nothing new came up.

They had left the garage only two hours ago, knowing that Alan would be safe. They hadn't found anything relevant inside Charlie's personal space except that someone had really wanted his work to be destroyed.

"How about this one?" David broke the silence that had long been filling the room. Everybody looked at the file he was holding.

"Impossible," Liz said, "the guy was last seen in France. According to our latest intell, he was heading for Turkey. I don't think he would suddenly come here and get back at us."

David only sighed as he threw down the file, picking up a new one and restarting the whole process of trying to find a possible kidnapper.

Colby needed to get away from the files, everyone could see it, but no one was willing to try to get him to take the break. That all changed when David had found that folder.

"This is crap! Why are we not out there looking for him? We should be out talking to the people around his house. The kids that were near his office." Colby yelled at David. That moment, he didn't care that they had already done this and had gone over an over the notes that they had from doing just this.

"Colby, please, just calm down. We're doing what we can." David told him. Colby knew that he should shut up and leave it alone, but this wasn't just some case that Charlie could help them with. This case was about trying to find Charlie, the man he loved.

"David, we have to do something. This is not working. Maybe Larry or Amita can find something we haven't in some math way. We need to find him!"

Don walked in at that moment and watched David stand up. He also watched how each word Colby said, made David's attitude change. David was no longer the young agent who needed the helping hand to know where to head on a case. But neither was he good at handling a very upset partner.

"Colby, can I have a word?" The whole room knew the tone in Don's voice meant that it wasn't a request.

Colby silently followed Don into an empty interrogation room. He knew that yelling at David had been wrong and already he was starting to find a proper way of apologizing to his partner in his mind. He should be able to control his emotions more if he wanted to stay involved in the investigation.

Seeing how Don carefully closed the door behind him, Colby could only hope he would just get a warning.

"Colby," Don said, "you need to relax."

"I know," Colby sighed, leaning against the back wall with one shoulder, "I should stay focused."

"Exactly," Don seemed relieved that Colby understood him, "otherwise you are just a distraction. I want to find my brother too, you know, and every thought that crosses my mind about him is a bad one, but I know I need to stay calm."

"You're right," Colby said, nodding his head, "it's just, I have never really dealt with a situation like this before. Never has a man that I love been in so much trouble and there is nothing I can do about it. I feel...completely useless."

"You aren't," Don said, walking towards Colby and placing a hand on his shoulder, "you can help us find Charlie because you're a good agent. We will find him, Colby."

"Do you think he's hurt? That blood in his office, do you think it's his?" Colby needed someone to answer him some questions. Someone had to understand all the thoughts he was having and who would be better at that than the brother of the missing person?

"Maybe," Don said, taking a few steps back again, "I don't know." It was Don now that couldn't help but feel useless. "But if he is hurt," he said, trying to make his voice sound strong, "that's all the more reason to find him soon. We have to get back," he said, "we're losing precious time here."

Colby nodded. He had never thought that he would understand Don so completely. Charlie had always told him that he and Don could get along perfectly, but only now he was actually starting to believe it. They shared something at the time, they shared a fear and that bonded them. Charlie was bonding them.

Leaving the interrogation room together, Colby immediately sensed something was going on. Megan almost came running towards them, a file in her hand and a look of shock covered her face.

Moving to one side of the hall so that Megan wouldn't run them over, Colby and Don waited on pins and needles to hear what she had found. The gaze on her face told them something important had been discovered. Was this the break they needed?

"There was a case a few months ago that we wouldn't have solved if Charlie hadn't helped." Megan flipped the folder over in her hand to show them the file.

"There are lots of cases we couldn't have solved if Charlie hadn't helped us at some point." came Don's flat reply. It was as if he wanted to remind himself how important Charlie was to them.

"That's true," Megan said, "but this one was about the time we all learned about Colby and Charlie." Megan's words stopped there as they walked towards the bullpen.

"Do you think it has something to do with him being gay that got him taken?" Colby's disbelieve was apparent in his weak voice. If that were true, then Colby knew this was his fault after all. He was Charlie's first boyfriend, the first man that conquered Charlie's heart.

"I'm not sure it's _the_ reason, but this guy didn't like the fact that '_a boy', _as he called Charlie, helped us find him. In his file, it is said that he was going to take care of '_that little fairy' _when he got his chance." Megan explained.

Don's gut was telling him this guy was bad news, but was he truly the guy that took his little brother? He wasn't sure, but it was a lead and it was something they haven't had in some time.

"Do we know where he's being held?" Don asked, knowing this guy still had to be in jail considering his crimes.

"He escaped the same day only hours before Charlie was taken." Megan's words sparked the team's next few hours of running down leads.

Don and Colby would have run to their desks to start find more information about this guy, but they tried to remain calm. His name was Hank Levi, a drug dealer that occasionally did money forgery as well. It was the fake money that had enabled Charlie to trace it back to the source, to Levi and in this case, that had resulted to an arrest.

Colby searched for any known friends or associates that might know where Levi was now, but every call he made ended in the same result. Nobody claimed to have contact with Levi anymore or they simply said not to know any person like that.

Don in the meantime searched for any last known addresses. There were only four, but Don's gut told him Levi wouldn't be there and Don had decided to trust his instincts. He felt he was hitting a dead end and there seemed nothing he could do about it.

That was until his phone rang and a familiar voice sounded at the other end. This call would change his life, Don could feel it in every fiber of his being.

Quickly picking up the call, the room drew still.

"Eppes." Don answered, "Yes, I understand. Thanks."

The team waited patiently as Don hung up his phone, but all he did was head towards the elevator door, leaving the others staring at him. Colby was the first to follow, than the rest of the team joined them as they got to the parking lot.

"Don, who was it?" Colby demanded to know as he approached him, blocking Don's way.

"A friend in LAPD," Don answered, walking around Colby, "They spotted a man that could pass for Charlie in a car heading south."

Nothing else was said, nothing needed to be said as they all loaded themselves into two SUV's and headed south.

The ride didn't take them long. All they had to do was drive to the other end of the city and luckily for them, traffic was low. Not many cars were on the road and Don didn't care for the speed limits, nobody did.

The blue light of the LAPD-car was clearly visible from a distance and Don guided them towards it. He didn't even bother turning of the engine when he got out and walked over to the cops standing in front of their car.

"So," Don said, turning to business immediately, "what have you got for us."

The whole team looked expectantly to the two cops who were apparently on their break.

"A call was placed not much later than three o'clock," the blond cop said, putting down his cup of coffee on the hood of his car, "a blue Mercedes was seen speeding and we got a snapshot from a radar."

The police officer reached for a file inside his car and handed it over to Don. The whole team leaned in to see the picture. They weren't sure what to expect. What if it was a picture of Charlie in that car? What would that really mean?

Don opened the file and took out the snapshot. His breath had simply disappeared from his lungs as he turned the photo towards Colby.

"Colby, look," was all that Don was able to say.

Colby took the photo into his hands and glared at it intensely. He had been prepared for a lot, he had even been prepared to see a badly injured Charlie behind the wheel. This, he had not been prepared for. This, he didn't even want to see.

He turned the photo down, not being able to look at it again. It was too late however and the image of Charlie, slumped away in his seat, sitting next to Mike, was burned in his memory.

Why would Charlie be with Mike? Why did his boyfriend look like he all he wanted to do was disappear as his eyes were shut, his face pale? Why had Mike all that hatred in his eyes? Colby closed his eyes and he handed to picture to Megan who could only take in a breath.

"But that is..." she couldn't think of his name.

"Mike," Colby breathed out, "I know, it doesn't make sense."

**AN:** That was it. The next chapter will arrive soon as a large part has already been written by me and the wonderful Chymom!


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:**** Taken**

**Authors: **Cassy27 / Chymom**  
Words: **960**  
Characters/parings:** Colby/Charlie**  
Rating:** T**  
Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!

**Chapter 5**

Colby stood rooted in his spot. He knew that David and the team where asking the officers questions about what time the picture had been taken, but for some reason, Colby couldn't get his head around what was going on.

He knew that Mike was aware of his feelings for Charlie. Mike had been mad when he had revisited him and he had appeared heartbroken when Colby had chosen Charlie over him. Was this some kind of payback? Was Mike the one who had taken the man that made his life worth living? Colby was snapped out of his thinking as David touched his shoulder.

"Let's not jump to anything here." David said as if he could read Colby's mind. "Mike might just be helping Charlie get back to us."

David's cracking voice showed that he didn't believe what he himself was saying. Colby's eyes filled with anger and rage and David had to hold on to his shoulder as he spoke to Don who came to stand with them.

"Don," Colby said, seeking support with his boss, "you know that the last thing that Mike would do, is help Charlie. Going south certainly isn't bringing Charlie back to us. He's heading the opposite direction."

Don could only agree and then to add more to it, he held up the picture. Pointing to his brother, his next words where chosen very carefully.

"What does it look like Charlie is doing to you?" he asked David, showing him the picture again.

"Sleeping." David answered, not understand where Don wanted to go with this.

Colby let out a small 'yeah right' that he meant to be under his breath, but the whole team heard.

Megan turned her head to look at the picture one more time and then she thought about the times she has been with the young math genius. In this picture, something else was playing.

"Charlie gets car sick when he sleeps in a car." Don's voice hit a nerve in Megan as if she suddenly understood.

"It almost looks like he's trying to get out the door, but he can't." Megan had hit the nail on the head. That had been what Colby and Don had both picked up on as soon as they had seen the picture.

"Now why would a man who loved and grew up with Colby want to hurt him this way?" Megan went in to her profile mode, ready to find the hidden answers that she knew where there.

"It could be that I chose Charlie over him." Colby sighed, dropping his head and walking to sit in the SUV.

Megan followed him close-by for different reasons. First of all, she wanted to make sure Colby would be alright. She could see in his eyes that he was handling this in a hard way, a difficult way. She also needed more answers, however. Making a profile of Mike was one of their only chances of figuring out what he was up to or where he would be going.

"So Mike wanted to be your boyfriend?" Megan asked, knowing she needed to handle this delicately.

"Yes," Colby answered, opened the driver's seet's door and sitting down. The engine had been turned of by now, but Colby could still feel its warmth. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He would give anything for a good night's rest, but the only way he was going to get that was when Charlie would be back home with him.

"And you chose Charlie," Megan said, more a statement than a question.

"Charlie is my life," Colby said, opening his eyes again, "he's my future. I just want him back, Megan."

"I know," Megan said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "we all do."

"Mike hated me," he said, "when I told him that I wanted to be with Charlie, I thought he absolutely hated me. I would have never thought though..."

He couldn't finish that sentence, but Megan understood him. "You never considered that Mike was capable of hurting Charlie."

"He is a good man!" Colby said, still trying to get his head around everything. "When we were friends, I always thought he would be a friend for life, you know? Now, I can't even begin to imagine what I would do if I saw him again."

"You have to think, Colby," Megan said, "is there anything that you know of that could help us find Charlie? Can you think of a reason why Mike would head South?"

Colby shook his head and he could see the disappointment in Megan's eyes. She took in a deep breath as she turned around. She was needed elsewhere and Colby could only feel relief. He was finally alone and he had a car at his disposal.

Turning on the engine, he quickly drove away, making sure that nobody could follow him. He had lied to Megan, but there hadn't been an other choice. There was only one reason why Mike would be heading South and that was because only Colby would know where he was heading.

Soon, Colby thought, he would see Charlie again.

**AN: So this chapter arrived a little later than anticipated, but it is here and Chymom and I hope you enjoyed it. We're getting closer to Charlie, but how is he? What did Mike do? What can Colby do? The answers will soon be here...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:**** Taken**

**Authors: **Cassy27 / Chymom**  
Words: **1647**  
Characters/parings: **Colby/Charlie**  
Rating: **T**  
Disclaimer: **We do not own any of the characters of Numb3rs!

**Chapter 6**

The drive to his destination was completely insane. All that Colby could think of was one man.

_Charlie_.

He was speeding hard, he knew this, but he couldn't bring himself to really care. Charlie was in trouble, he was in danger and only Colby could help him. More than that, he was the only one that could save him from Mike.

As 30 minutes passed, Colby found himself to be making a left turn for the last time. At the end of this forsaken road, a little house would stand. He still remembered every detail from the cottage. A wooden smell surrounding it, the flower curtains that needed to be replaced, the old, gray couch in the corner of the living room,...

So many memories came flooding back to him as well.

In that house, Colby had shared his first date with Mike. The house had belonged to Mike's grandfather who no longer used it, so he had been planning to sell it. Mike had bought the house, though he had never found the time to clean it up and all.

In that house, their first kiss had happened. Their first fight had happened there and their first time sleeping together. Having been young, they had always told each other that when the time was right, they would more in together and that little house at the end of this road would become their new home.

It was everything but home for Colby now. Charlie was in there, possibly in pain or in agony. Hell was waiting on him inside that house and when Colby pulled up in front of it, he felt his heart sink heavy inside his chest. He was not sure if he could deal with this all.

_Charlie_.

Only one thought made him get out of the car. Charlie needed him and that was all that mattered.

333

Megan heard an engine roar to life and turning around, she saw Colby take off in a hurry. Running to the car, she knew it was pointless. There was no way she could stop Colby from doing something completely idiotic.

"Colby!" she yelled, coming to a halt, "COLBY!"

Every head turned towards her, trying to see what was happening, but only Don came to stand with Megan to ask her what exactly was going on.

"What is it?" he wanted to know, only seeing a car driving away. He did not understand why Colby would just take of like that. Only then did the thought hit him. "Is he...?" He couldn't finish his sentence. He needed to hear Megan tell him in order to believe this.

"He's going to Mike," Megan sighed, her hands planted in her side, "he knows where he is."

"Damn it," David said as he heard Megan and Don talking.

"He took my SUV," Don spoke, still gazing at the cloud of dust that was filling the air where only moments ago, Colby had been driving. "Call in and get the tracking link started." Don turned his attention to everyone standing close by. "Thanks for all the help," he spoke, "but we need to head out." As soon as the words left Don's mouth, the team was getting into the other SUV, ready to head south as well.

"Colby has about a twenty minute head start on us," Megan said, turned to look at Don as he put his foot a little heaver on the accelerator pedal. No one really new to much about Colby's past with Mike except for Charlie of course, but right now, he was the one they couldn't ask for help.

"You got to be kidding me," Don exclaimed as finally comprehended Megan's words. His fist hit the steering-wheel hard. They had gained about ten minutes, but suddenly, they were completely stuck. Not only was traffic being a bitch, no one had any idea where Colby was going exactly. Should they make a left or right turn? Should they simply follow the main road?

As Don decided to follow the main road for now, he suddenly saw traffic standing completely still due to a road paving on the other side of the street.

"Why is the world against us today?" David mumbled mostly to himself in the back seat.

"Let's just take a few deep breaths," Megan said, "we won't do any one any good if we let things like this get to us."

Normally, Megan's words of wisdom didn't bother Don. Now, however, they had the other effect on him.

"Megan," he said, his voice surprisingly hard, "it's not only Charlie we have to worry about now. Colby is out there and who knows where 'out there' is? Charlie is hurt and Mike and Colby are the only ones that know where he is. We are stuck in this mess and in the mean time, one of my agents and my brother could be hurt or worse; they could be dying and we're stuck here!"

Both agents knew that their boss didn't show this much emotion about his work ever. Being as he was now, it showed them just how much this was hurting him. Of course, no one blamed him. This was part of his family and everyone simply wanted Colby and Charlie safe.

"We'll find them," was all that Megan said.

Don shot a dark gaze towards her. All that he truly wanted was a moment of peace and quiet. Some time to think might actually help them figure out where Colby and Charlie were. A cellphone started ringing loudly, however, and Don immediately turned to Megan.

She searched every pocket for the little phone when she finally found it in the inner pocket of her jacket. In one swift movement, she had the phone against her air.

"Agent Reeves," she greeted whoever was calling her.

Don anxiously waited on Megan to say something, but all that she seemed to be doing was nod.

"Alright," she said, "got it. Thanks." Disconnecting the call, a smile appeared on her face and Don knew that could only mean good news. "I know where Colby is," she announced.

Don didn't hesitate after hearing the address. Turning his car around, he made a left turn and headed to where he knew Charlie and Colby were. If only they were okay.

333

The front door cracked open as Colby gently pushed it. It didn't seem to be able to hold much pressure as it was old and desperately needed a new layer of paint. Arriving in a long hallway, the walls threw a long shadow on the floor, making it hard for the agent to see where he was walking. He knew the house well enough, however, to know where everything was.

Near the end of the hall, a stairwell would lead them to the two bedrooms upstairs. Only three doors where visible. One would lead Colby into the kitchen, another into the living room. The third door would have him enter the bathroom. There was a fourth door, however, hiding behind the stairwell. Taking that door, he would arrive in the cellar.

Colby knew Mike well enough to know that he would be hiding there. He had called it his safe-haven one day and it hadn't been a typical cellar after all. A large window near the top of the far wall allowed sunlight to illuminate the entire basement. A couch stood in the corner, a small TV in front of it. There was a bookcase, a pile of DVD's and CD's, but Colby wasn't sure if those would still be there. No one had lived here in a while after all.

Opening that hidden door, Colby already smelt that familiar scent of old paint. Taking one step at a time, he descended the stairs, taking in every detail of the room. He noticed the flowers on a small desk near his left. He saw dust laying everywhere. He could see the old books where still present and then his eye fell upon the one person he loved more than anyone in his life.

_Charlie_.

He lay motionless on the couch, his legs pulled up high to his chest, one arm laying carelessly over the edge of the couch. His face looked very pale and Colby knew his lover was sick. He saw the dark circles around his eyes perfectly, even from the distance he was standing and drips of dried blood stuck near his left temple.

Colby crossed the room in a second, kneeling down beside the couch, his hand carefully caressing Charlie's cheek.

"Charlie," he whispered, hoping for a reaction. Nothing happened, though, and Charlie's eyes remained closed.

"I was wondering what took you so long," a heavy voice said.

Colby didn't need to turn around, he could recognize that voice anywhere. He simply took in a deep breath, calming himself down. Yelling would be pointless, killing him might not be the best solution either, though Colby's fingers were aching to grab his gun.

"Don't even think about it," Mike said, seeming to know what Colby was thinking, "take out your gun slowly and slide it towards me."

Colby turned around now on his knees, his gaze finally leaving Charlie's face. Suddenly, he was staring right into the barrel of a gun. He had no other choice but to do what Mike said. Slowly reaching for his gun, he slid it over towards the man he hated so much.

"What have you done to Charlie?" Colby demanded to know. He didn't care Mike had all the power at this moment. His only concern was for the man laying on the couch. He wasn't even worried about his own life.

"He'll be fine," Mike grinned, his grasp tightening on his gun, "I hope."

**AN: Thanks to those that took the time to read this chapter. I hope there weren't too many mistakes in it. The next chapter will be posted as soon as possible!**


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